Thanks Tanypteryx. My first POTM nomination and my first reprimand for being off topic, both within a 24 hour period.

HBD

Whoever calls me ignorant shares my own opinion. Sorrowfully and tacitly I recognize my ignorance, when I consider how much I lack of what my mind in its craving for knowledge is sighing for... I console myself with the consideration that this belongs to our common nature. - Francesco Petrarca

"Nothing is easier than to persuade people who want to be persuaded and already believe." - another Petrarca gem.

Ignorance is a most formidable opponent rivaled only by arrogance; but when the two join forces, one is all but invincible.

Or "Why you shouldn't badly use a bad radiometric dating method to find the age of a rock".

Moose

Professor, geology, Whatsamatta UEvolution - Changes in the environment, caused by the interactions of the components of the environment.

"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer." - Bruce Graham

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." - John Kenneth Galbraith

"Yesterday on Fox News, commentator Glenn Beck said that he believes President Obama is a racist. To be fair, every time you watch Glenn Beck, it does get a little easier to hate white people." - Conan O'Brien

"I know a little about a lot of things, and a lot about a few things, but I'm highly ignorant about everything." - Moose

Excellent analogy of geological column to historical record patchwork from different locations around the world:

When considering this history, it would be, well, odd to consider an outbreak of typhus in a particular city in France as somehow presenting a challenge to our image of history because it was not recorded in a different city in Italy. To further claim that this occurrence ("intrusion") of typhus ("lava") into the records of the French town was not part of history ("the geological column") would also be odd, to say the least.

Muslim extremists, Christian extremists. No difference. Except the West has far more experience keeping the Christian extremists in check.

Moose

Professor, geology, Whatsamatta UEvolution - Changes in the environment, caused by the interactions of the components of the environment.

"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer." - Bruce Graham

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." - John Kenneth Galbraith

"Yesterday on Fox News, commentator Glenn Beck said that he believes President Obama is a racist. To be fair, every time you watch Glenn Beck, it does get a little easier to hate white people." - Conan O'Brien

"I know a little about a lot of things, and a lot about a few things, but I'm highly ignorant about everything." - Moose

Author: dwise1Forum: Education and Creation/EvolutionThread: Should we teach both evolution and religion in school? Message #: 271

Another dwise1 rerun, but a fine one.

The creationist side gets their wish to have both evolution and creation covered in the same class, and suffer the adverse consequences. The creationist side then gets their wish that the class be shut down.

AND MORE.

Moose

Edited by Minnemooseus, : AND MORE.

Professor, geology, Whatsamatta UEvolution - Changes in the environment, caused by the interactions of the components of the environment.

"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer." - Bruce Graham

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." - John Kenneth Galbraith

"Yesterday on Fox News, commentator Glenn Beck said that he believes President Obama is a racist. To be fair, every time you watch Glenn Beck, it does get a little easier to hate white people." - Conan O'Brien

"I know a little about a lot of things, and a lot about a few things, but I'm highly ignorant about everything." - Moose

It was totally pointless and taught nothing. It is as stupid as a Search for Moderate Islam or moderate Christianity or moderate Buddhism. It seems pointless but it might employ a few folk and so that may be a saving grace.

To which Jon replied:

You're the fifth most active participant in this thread and all you can say now is that the topic is stupid?

Someone needed to say it. The idea of searching for moderate Islam has got to be one of the silliest threads yet.

Moderate Islam, like moderate Christianity or moderate Buddhism or moderate Sikhism is everywhere. It is all the Muslims that do not make the news, the florists and grocers and lawyers and doctors and teachers and firemen and policemen and Imams and bankers and cab drivers and almost all the Muslims in the US and in the world. It's all the Muslims that just want to feed their families, not get killed, educate their sons and daughters and maybe even buy a new car for the wife to drive.

Professor, geology, Whatsamatta UEvolution - Changes in the environment, caused by the interactions of the components of the environment.

"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer." - Bruce Graham

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." - John Kenneth Galbraith

"Yesterday on Fox News, commentator Glenn Beck said that he believes President Obama is a racist. To be fair, every time you watch Glenn Beck, it does get a little easier to hate white people." - Conan O'Brien

"I know a little about a lot of things, and a lot about a few things, but I'm highly ignorant about everything." - Moose

Even in this thread, people talk about science as if it's synonymous with reality, or that it's self-evident that it's the only source of knowledge worth considering. If scientists like Dawkins and Krauss tell us we're nothing but gene machines or cosmic pollution, then dammit, that's all we are. If there were anything unique or meaningful about human existence, the story goes, science would have detected it by now! The audience for this sort of cheerleading has been groomed by a culture where gadgetry is more important than the arts or humanities, and where our view of what constitutes empirical inquiry is de-historicized and philosophically shallow.

You might want to move the discussion from the |Book Nook| forum to |Is it Science| ...